Pak Ministers tells parties to stop support to militants in J&K

K J M Varma

Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider has appealed to the country's religio-political parties to put an end to funds mobilisation to wage jihad in Jammu and Kashmir and refurbish their image by respecting the law and refraining from displaying weapons.

"The parties should put a quick end to their brazen show of weapons and collection of funds to wage jihad (holy war) in Kashmir," Haider told the first ever national-level conference of 18 Islamic religious parties in Islamabad on Saturday.

"Have you thought what kind of concerns this situation is creating among the people? What will the world think about it? Islam teaches us kindness and understanding, but what is happening today?" he was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media.

"If Islamic parties want to collect donations, they should do it for humanitarian causes and not for the purpose of militancy," he said.

Haider said the Government would not tolerate flouting of the law by religious parties and urged religious scholars to respect the law of the land, The News daily reported.

Referring to some masked men openly displaying arms at a recent meeting organised to show solidarity with Afghanistan's Taleban at a seminar in Akora Khattak, he said, "I appreciate the meeting but what do we want to show the world - people wearing masks carrying guns. Are we above the law?"

Apart from Western countries, Islamic nations have expressed concern that religious schools in Pakistan were fanning extremism and religious fanaticism, Haider said.

Reacting to the minister's criticism, leader of a faction of Jamait Ulema-I-Islam Samiul Haq said weapons had been displayed to demonstrate to the United States of America that Muslims were not weak, the newspaper said.

Haq, however, openly disagreed with the minister and warned the government that Islamic clerics would not tolerate any crackdown on the religious schools preaching jihad.

"We will not accept the American hegemony. Religious parties are maintaining the country's Islamic image," he said adding without the mujahideen (holy warriors), there would not be any militants to fight for Kashmir's liberation.